The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) has found that cash is still the most popular way of paying for items in the US, with mobile payments failing to make a significant impact within the in-store retail industry.
“U.S. Mobile Payments: Do They Disrupt Cash?” is the latest payments report to be released by the ATM group.
Tremont Capital Group, a payments consulting firm conducted the research, analysing a number of mobile payment success stories, including Starbucks’ closed-loop solution and Apple Pay’s in-store payment application.
Despite finding promising statistics from Apple Pay and Starbuck’s, Tremont found that consumers are more likely to pay for items electronically, as opposed to using a mobile wallet.
Tremont Capital concluded that any share shift from cash to mobile between 2015 and 2020 will be negligible.
‘‘An analysis of 30 countries during the five year period 2009-2013 showed an average year-on-year increase over this period of cash in circulation of 8.9%, compared to economic growth rates below 3%,’’ commented Mike Lee, CEO of ATMIA.
‘‘In truth, cash use is more robust and mobile payments less stellar in growth than current conventional wisdom might suggest.”
Despite mobile payments failing to take off in the United States, cashless payments in Britain are flourishing.
In May this year, 1.1bn contactless transactions were processed, which is a 10 per cent rise on May 2014. The UK Cards Association believes that Britons will continue to adopt a cashless approach when paying for items.
‘‘More and more consumers are now choosing to reach for the cards in their wallets first when they come to pay. With the contactless limit increasing to £30 from September, it’s expected that the growing trend of using cards rather than cash will continue,’’ said Richard Koch at the UK Cards Association.
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